donutsweeper (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
donutsweeper) wrote2018-03-16 04:45 pm
donutsweeper) wrote2018-03-16 04:45 pm
Entry tags:
Them's Fighting Words (fights, weapons, military, police, spy and forensic stuff)
Fighting sans weapons:
How To Actually Win A Fist Fight (wayback machine link)
Boxing Vocabulary and tips on writing a boxing scene.
Breakdown of how to wrap your hands for boxing and an infographic on how to wrap your hands for fighting in general (and why you do it)
Basic Ground Fighting Techniques (from US Army study guide)
Contact points used in Karate - set of infographics of parts of the body used for strikes and various hits. (wayback machine link)
Combato: The Art Of Self Defence WWII manual for "Women War Workers, Soldiers and Civilians" to teach quick and easy to learn combative, disarming and self defense moves. (And gifset of a disarming move)
Judo Jymnastics - 1947 self defense for women film short staring Mary Parker (not the best techniques probably, but definitely interesting for the historical factor)
Guns of various sorts:
What Really Happens In A Gunfight? (2010 article written by a tactical trainer, wayback machine link)
Firearms Tutorial (*very detailed* with pages on history, anatomy, ballistics, injuries, criminology, etc)
How to Fire a Handgun Safely and Correctly
Info on Stun Guns (there are also some links on how stun guns and tasers work and what injuries they give in the medical/injury post)
Taser Basics
Realistic Writing Handguns including stopping power, recoil, gunbarrel length and links for more info, including videos (wayback machine link)
How to stand when firing a gun (focusing on historical pistols vs modern handguns- written about Ichabod Crane on Sleepy Hollow)
Several blog posts on gun basics for writers (wayback machine link)
An In Depth Guide to Firearms
Gun Terms For Writers
Writing firearms in fiction (tumblr post by author Peter Morwood)
Gun Safeties for Writers, or, does the gun even have one? (tumblr post by author Peter Morwood)
Set of infographics on how a handgun works
Cleaning various guns: shotguns, revolvers, pistols, and rifles
the Inception Fic Writer's Guide to Firearms An oldie, but goodie. Written for the Inception fandom, but does a good job in explaining the basics of firearms and points out what movies/tv shows get wrong. (Link goes to part 1)
"Flagging" aka the wrong way to carry a weapon (and the right way to do it)
Forgotten Weapons' video playlists information on and demonstrations of various guns of different eras and countries of origin (including one on the Afghan Traditional Jezail for a look at the weapon that Watson faced during the Second Anglo-Afghan War)
How to make musket balls (video)
Other weapons:
Disarming an opponent in a sword fight
Sword Fighting For Fic Writers - a 14 chapter set of tumblr posts (link goes to chapter 1, other chapters linked from there)
Things that People Forget About When Writing Sword Fights (tumblr post with additions by authors Diane Duane and Peter Morwood and more)
Cut and Thrust of Blade Combat (a few things to consider, wayback machine link)
A quick guide to spear and pole fighting
Guide to Archery
Interesting video on Hollywood's version of archery vs historical and a video by the same guy delving into a few of the points with more depth. (Although interesting, take his ideas with a grain of salt, there are numerous issues with his points as seen in this article)
Historical vs Modern Archery educational video and a expert's response to it (which is very in depth and quite interesting and deals with some of the issues brought up in the Hollywood v historical one as well; if looking for any specific archery info, check out his channel)
Whips, Chains and Scarves and other flexible weapons and how to use them
1908 magazine article Defeat Of The Hooligan wherein Mrs Sanderson, "one of the finest swordsman in England", demonstrates how to defend herself against a hooligan using only a typical umbrella. google books link or a slightly clearer pdf link.
Pictures and descriptions on different grips for knives and when to use which.
Knife fighting techniques
Knife Grip and Holding Techniques
Wikihow's How to Become Good at Knife Fighting
Masterpost of links on fighting with daggers and other bladed weapons (wayback machine link)
A soldier describing what it feels like, physically, when a bomb goes off
What to do if you are caught in a bomb blast
Writing advice and things to consider:
Helpful things for action writers to remember
Collection of links on How to Write a Fight Scene (wayback machine link)
Writing Fight Scenes: The VIOLENT Method
How to shoot your characters without killing them (wayback machine)
Something to consider regarding what clothes your character is wearing while fighting: "Ask a Bespoke Tailor: How Can James Bond Fight in Those Suits?"
A Crack Shot: On Writing Characters Who Shoot - Or: How to Write Your Gun-Toting Badass In a Way That Doesn’t Strain Your Reader’s Suspension of Disbelief
Lets Talk About Sparring written by someone trained in Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), with additional info added
Where To Hit In A Fight (infographic)
Escaping:
Several ways to break out of zip ties, comic on how to use a bobby pin to get out of zip ties, another method for getting out of them when your hands are secured behind the back and also a general infographic about getting out of zip ties
Escaping Handcuffs - Information for Writers (wayback machine link)
Video demonstrating how to get out of handcuffs
Six Ways to Escape from Handcuffs, Zip Ties & Duct Tape (video)
(Also check out other methods of breaking into or out of locked rooms in the random links post)
Military/Spy stuff:
giant military masterpost (wayback machine link) and a second one (wayback machine link)
For humor/historical's sake, Private Pete Learns To Be A Good Soldier, a 1943 textbook for soldiers at basic training, described by its authors as “packed with military information, written in the language of the trainee, who is learning to read and write, whether he be illiterate or non-English speaking”
Written for Captain America's canon, but the later chapters of this AO3 work have a good look at WWII uniforms, kits, weapons, dog tags, etc
A Pocket Reference Guide: Army, Navy, Marine Corps Insignia WWII - published 1943 (tumblr post, also contains some Captain America speculation)
How to be a green beret - at least in casual conversation
OSS Simple Sabotage Field Manual- The US Strategic Services' 1944 field guide to sabotage - how to encourage "citizen-saboteurs" as well as practical guidance for obstruction.
Hand Signals used in the US Army (pdf), article of numerous different standard military hand signals (signs differ through time and by military, google if looking for a specific one)
NPR article "U.S. Military Lingo: The (Almost) Definitive Guide"
Glossary of Military Terms & Slang, a list of Air force Terminology and Navy terminology. Also, a list of common slang/jargon a veteran might continue to use in everyday life.
Surviving Basic Training articles for US Army, Marines, US Navy, and US Airforce
A Week in US Air Force ROTC
AR 670-1 - US Army Regulation 670-1 pdf- Everything you might ever want to know about what's allowed re: uniform and personal appearance (in and out of uniform)
US Army jargon masterpost
US Army ranks and what they're in charge of and a list of enlisted ranks
Post about US army body armor
What happens when a soldier is wounded in a combat environment (modern, US Army example)
Final roll call (when an active duty US army soldier is killed)
Character Guide – What Your Character Experiences While Leaving the Military
List of weapons/firearms used by U.S. Armed Forces, British Armed Forces, French Armed Forces, German Armed Forces, and Russian Armed Forces- including when they began to be used and out-of-service weapons (all wayback machine links)
Pilot Callsigns "The web's largest collection of callsign stories"
Interesting post about Combat Medics
The Service of Security and Information by Arthur Lockwood Wagner- originally published in 1893 as a textbook for teaching the art of war and espionage (google books pdf, archive.org version, hathitrust digital library version)
Language of Espionage
Clothing Britain’s Spies during World War II - interesting article about all the little details needed to consider when sending a spy into enemy territory
On the Record: Archetype of a Spy (podcast episode, about what spies actually look like, what they do and why)
"Former FBI Agent Explains How to Read Body Language" (video)
The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception (archive.org)
How Spies Use Disguises - "Former Chief of Disguise for the CIA, Jonna Mendez, explains how disguises are used in the CIA, and what aspects to the deception make for an effective disguise." (video)
Cold War Spy Gadgets another from Jonna Mendez- discussing some of the tactics, gadgets and disguises CIA operatives used in the field during the Cold War. (video)
Former CIA Chief of Disguise Breaks Down 30 Spy Scenes From Film & TV - another by Jonna Mendez and includes some very good techniques about what works and what doesn't and why (video)
Crime Museum - information on all aspects of crime and forensics as well as a huge resource library of famous crimes (ranging from piracy, robbery, murder, war crimes, etc) and criminals (of all sorts) through history and much much more.
Policing, Laws, Forensics, and Autopsies:
SWAT Manual: SWAT operational guidelines and standardized training recommendations California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training, published 2005 (PDF, wayback machine link)
Policing in the UK, a brief guide (14 page pdf, wayback machine link) and Becoming a Special Constable updated (2019) version.
Masterlist of US police work/law enforcement links
Crime Scene Practice (UK)
What a bomb technician wears (video cued up to the process of putting on a bomb suit)
Police Jargon: How to Talk Like a Cop (wayback machine link)
How An FBI Profiler Spots A Lie and also Signs Of Lying
Former FBI Analyst Explains Criminal Profiling (video, beginning at the breakdown of what it is and how they do it)
Reference Sheet for British firearms law excellent write up on UK laws regarding guns, tasers, knives etc.
Scriptlawyer’s Ultimate Mythbusting Guide to Court Procedure (wayback machine link)
Crime Scene Investigator Network articles, manuals and videos on everything crime scene related- crime scene response, evidence collection, documentation, etc etc etc
How Crime Scene Investigation Works
Guide to Crime Scene Investigation A comprehensive guide to crime scene investigations with a section concentrating on responding officers. (PDF- wayback machine link)
Forensic Document Examination
Black Powder Processing (aka dusting for fingerprints)
Fingermark/Fingerprint collection and identification
Forensics Expert Explains How to Lift Fingerprints (youtube video)
Forensics Expert Explains How to Analyze Bloodstain Patterns (youtube video)
Forensics Expert Explains How to Determine Bullet Trajectory (youtube video)
What blood spatter stains are trying to tell you
Bloodstain pattern analysis infographic (includes info on types of spatter, other bloodstain patterns, impact angle, and more)
A little more on blood spatter and how temperature affects how it dries
Will Washing Clothes Really Destroy Bloodstains?
A Screenwriter's Guide to the Autopsy (wayback machine link)
The 21 Steps of an Autopsy (wayback machine link)
Autopsies For Authors (podcast episode of The Creative Penn with transcript)
Mistakes Writers Make about Coroners ... and How to Avoid Them (podcast episode of The Indy Author)
Pathology of Knife Wounds (wayback machine link)
The real CSI: what happens at a crime scene?
The CSI Effect: Fact v Fiction (infographic, rebloggable tumblr post)
Round up of articles breaking down issues with forensics and some of the pseudoscience behind it
Basics of forensic entomology (use of insect life-cycles and behaviours to interpret evidence)
Stages of Deterioration and Decomposition in the Human Body a timeline
Forensic Entomology a website designed to teach police officers and homicide investigators "the minimal skills they will need to interact profitably with a forensic entomologist."(wayback machine link)
How to write characters working in forensics (a list of jobs and tips, wayback machine link)
other related things:
Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors - fictional, but written as if by an actual experienced assassin, as a how-to manual on contract killing that ended up being used in numerous actual murders (now in public domain, archive.org link)
How to Write Investigation Guides as compiled for the Superbat Big Bang- Part One, A Guide to Doing The Casefic And Maybe Only Suffering a Little, and part two, Doing The Casefic And Suffering A Bit More Than Before (gdocs)
(a few historical police/criminal links on the history etc post)
some sites to check for more info:
How to Fight Right - not easy to navigate, posts range in usefulness. (but here's one masterlist in response to an ask)
True Forensics
Box of Truth a website devoted to firearms as well as testing the penetration of various rounds
FirearmsID a website with tons of general articles on firearms forensics and if you register (easy to do, does not spam) you can delve even deeper into the site with things like its virtual comparison microscope and more.
500 different Military Manuals these run the gauntlet from 1930s radio operation to Vietnam Guerilla Warfare & Special Forces Operations to Canadian Nuclear Weapons effects to 1990 US Journalism handbooks, vehicle maintenance, counter intelligence and much, much more.
Ask a Coroner (what it says on the tin, numerous previous asks posted with their answers for your perusal)
{There are also tons of resources at archive.org so googling something + "site:archive.org" might bring up useful manuals, etc}
Research and Resource Collected Links Masterpost
How To Actually Win A Fist Fight (wayback machine link)
Boxing Vocabulary and tips on writing a boxing scene.
Breakdown of how to wrap your hands for boxing and an infographic on how to wrap your hands for fighting in general (and why you do it)
Basic Ground Fighting Techniques (from US Army study guide)
Contact points used in Karate - set of infographics of parts of the body used for strikes and various hits. (wayback machine link)
Combato: The Art Of Self Defence WWII manual for "Women War Workers, Soldiers and Civilians" to teach quick and easy to learn combative, disarming and self defense moves. (And gifset of a disarming move)
Judo Jymnastics - 1947 self defense for women film short staring Mary Parker (not the best techniques probably, but definitely interesting for the historical factor)
Guns of various sorts:
What Really Happens In A Gunfight? (2010 article written by a tactical trainer, wayback machine link)
Firearms Tutorial (*very detailed* with pages on history, anatomy, ballistics, injuries, criminology, etc)
How to Fire a Handgun Safely and Correctly
Info on Stun Guns (there are also some links on how stun guns and tasers work and what injuries they give in the medical/injury post)
Taser Basics
Realistic Writing Handguns including stopping power, recoil, gunbarrel length and links for more info, including videos (wayback machine link)
How to stand when firing a gun (focusing on historical pistols vs modern handguns- written about Ichabod Crane on Sleepy Hollow)
Several blog posts on gun basics for writers (wayback machine link)
An In Depth Guide to Firearms
Gun Terms For Writers
Writing firearms in fiction (tumblr post by author Peter Morwood)
Gun Safeties for Writers, or, does the gun even have one? (tumblr post by author Peter Morwood)
Set of infographics on how a handgun works
Cleaning various guns: shotguns, revolvers, pistols, and rifles
the Inception Fic Writer's Guide to Firearms An oldie, but goodie. Written for the Inception fandom, but does a good job in explaining the basics of firearms and points out what movies/tv shows get wrong. (Link goes to part 1)
"Flagging" aka the wrong way to carry a weapon (and the right way to do it)
Forgotten Weapons' video playlists information on and demonstrations of various guns of different eras and countries of origin (including one on the Afghan Traditional Jezail for a look at the weapon that Watson faced during the Second Anglo-Afghan War)
How to make musket balls (video)
Other weapons:
Disarming an opponent in a sword fight
Sword Fighting For Fic Writers - a 14 chapter set of tumblr posts (link goes to chapter 1, other chapters linked from there)
Things that People Forget About When Writing Sword Fights (tumblr post with additions by authors Diane Duane and Peter Morwood and more)
Cut and Thrust of Blade Combat (a few things to consider, wayback machine link)
A quick guide to spear and pole fighting
Guide to Archery
Interesting video on Hollywood's version of archery vs historical and a video by the same guy delving into a few of the points with more depth. (Although interesting, take his ideas with a grain of salt, there are numerous issues with his points as seen in this article)
Historical vs Modern Archery educational video and a expert's response to it (which is very in depth and quite interesting and deals with some of the issues brought up in the Hollywood v historical one as well; if looking for any specific archery info, check out his channel)
Whips, Chains and Scarves and other flexible weapons and how to use them
1908 magazine article Defeat Of The Hooligan wherein Mrs Sanderson, "one of the finest swordsman in England", demonstrates how to defend herself against a hooligan using only a typical umbrella. google books link or a slightly clearer pdf link.
Pictures and descriptions on different grips for knives and when to use which.
Knife fighting techniques
Knife Grip and Holding Techniques
Wikihow's How to Become Good at Knife Fighting
Masterpost of links on fighting with daggers and other bladed weapons (wayback machine link)
A soldier describing what it feels like, physically, when a bomb goes off
What to do if you are caught in a bomb blast
Writing advice and things to consider:
Helpful things for action writers to remember
Collection of links on How to Write a Fight Scene (wayback machine link)
Writing Fight Scenes: The VIOLENT Method
How to shoot your characters without killing them (wayback machine)
Something to consider regarding what clothes your character is wearing while fighting: "Ask a Bespoke Tailor: How Can James Bond Fight in Those Suits?"
A Crack Shot: On Writing Characters Who Shoot - Or: How to Write Your Gun-Toting Badass In a Way That Doesn’t Strain Your Reader’s Suspension of Disbelief
Lets Talk About Sparring written by someone trained in Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), with additional info added
Where To Hit In A Fight (infographic)
Escaping:
Several ways to break out of zip ties, comic on how to use a bobby pin to get out of zip ties, another method for getting out of them when your hands are secured behind the back and also a general infographic about getting out of zip ties
Escaping Handcuffs - Information for Writers (wayback machine link)
Video demonstrating how to get out of handcuffs
Six Ways to Escape from Handcuffs, Zip Ties & Duct Tape (video)
(Also check out other methods of breaking into or out of locked rooms in the random links post)
Military/Spy stuff:
giant military masterpost (wayback machine link) and a second one (wayback machine link)
For humor/historical's sake, Private Pete Learns To Be A Good Soldier, a 1943 textbook for soldiers at basic training, described by its authors as “packed with military information, written in the language of the trainee, who is learning to read and write, whether he be illiterate or non-English speaking”
Written for Captain America's canon, but the later chapters of this AO3 work have a good look at WWII uniforms, kits, weapons, dog tags, etc
A Pocket Reference Guide: Army, Navy, Marine Corps Insignia WWII - published 1943 (tumblr post, also contains some Captain America speculation)
How to be a green beret - at least in casual conversation
OSS Simple Sabotage Field Manual- The US Strategic Services' 1944 field guide to sabotage - how to encourage "citizen-saboteurs" as well as practical guidance for obstruction.
Hand Signals used in the US Army (pdf), article of numerous different standard military hand signals (signs differ through time and by military, google if looking for a specific one)
NPR article "U.S. Military Lingo: The (Almost) Definitive Guide"
Glossary of Military Terms & Slang, a list of Air force Terminology and Navy terminology. Also, a list of common slang/jargon a veteran might continue to use in everyday life.
Surviving Basic Training articles for US Army, Marines, US Navy, and US Airforce
A Week in US Air Force ROTC
AR 670-1 - US Army Regulation 670-1 pdf- Everything you might ever want to know about what's allowed re: uniform and personal appearance (in and out of uniform)
US Army jargon masterpost
US Army ranks and what they're in charge of and a list of enlisted ranks
Post about US army body armor
What happens when a soldier is wounded in a combat environment (modern, US Army example)
Final roll call (when an active duty US army soldier is killed)
Character Guide – What Your Character Experiences While Leaving the Military
List of weapons/firearms used by U.S. Armed Forces, British Armed Forces, French Armed Forces, German Armed Forces, and Russian Armed Forces- including when they began to be used and out-of-service weapons (all wayback machine links)
Pilot Callsigns "The web's largest collection of callsign stories"
Interesting post about Combat Medics
The Service of Security and Information by Arthur Lockwood Wagner- originally published in 1893 as a textbook for teaching the art of war and espionage (google books pdf, archive.org version, hathitrust digital library version)
Language of Espionage
Clothing Britain’s Spies during World War II - interesting article about all the little details needed to consider when sending a spy into enemy territory
On the Record: Archetype of a Spy (podcast episode, about what spies actually look like, what they do and why)
"Former FBI Agent Explains How to Read Body Language" (video)
The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception (archive.org)
How Spies Use Disguises - "Former Chief of Disguise for the CIA, Jonna Mendez, explains how disguises are used in the CIA, and what aspects to the deception make for an effective disguise." (video)
Cold War Spy Gadgets another from Jonna Mendez- discussing some of the tactics, gadgets and disguises CIA operatives used in the field during the Cold War. (video)
Former CIA Chief of Disguise Breaks Down 30 Spy Scenes From Film & TV - another by Jonna Mendez and includes some very good techniques about what works and what doesn't and why (video)
Crime Museum - information on all aspects of crime and forensics as well as a huge resource library of famous crimes (ranging from piracy, robbery, murder, war crimes, etc) and criminals (of all sorts) through history and much much more.
Policing, Laws, Forensics, and Autopsies:
SWAT Manual: SWAT operational guidelines and standardized training recommendations California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training, published 2005 (PDF, wayback machine link)
Policing in the UK, a brief guide (14 page pdf, wayback machine link) and Becoming a Special Constable updated (2019) version.
Masterlist of US police work/law enforcement links
Crime Scene Practice (UK)
What a bomb technician wears (video cued up to the process of putting on a bomb suit)
Police Jargon: How to Talk Like a Cop (wayback machine link)
How An FBI Profiler Spots A Lie and also Signs Of Lying
Former FBI Analyst Explains Criminal Profiling (video, beginning at the breakdown of what it is and how they do it)
Reference Sheet for British firearms law excellent write up on UK laws regarding guns, tasers, knives etc.
Scriptlawyer’s Ultimate Mythbusting Guide to Court Procedure (wayback machine link)
Crime Scene Investigator Network articles, manuals and videos on everything crime scene related- crime scene response, evidence collection, documentation, etc etc etc
How Crime Scene Investigation Works
Guide to Crime Scene Investigation A comprehensive guide to crime scene investigations with a section concentrating on responding officers. (PDF- wayback machine link)
Forensic Document Examination
Black Powder Processing (aka dusting for fingerprints)
Fingermark/Fingerprint collection and identification
Forensics Expert Explains How to Lift Fingerprints (youtube video)
Forensics Expert Explains How to Analyze Bloodstain Patterns (youtube video)
Forensics Expert Explains How to Determine Bullet Trajectory (youtube video)
What blood spatter stains are trying to tell you
Bloodstain pattern analysis infographic (includes info on types of spatter, other bloodstain patterns, impact angle, and more)
A little more on blood spatter and how temperature affects how it dries
Will Washing Clothes Really Destroy Bloodstains?
A Screenwriter's Guide to the Autopsy (wayback machine link)
The 21 Steps of an Autopsy (wayback machine link)
Autopsies For Authors (podcast episode of The Creative Penn with transcript)
Mistakes Writers Make about Coroners ... and How to Avoid Them (podcast episode of The Indy Author)
Pathology of Knife Wounds (wayback machine link)
The real CSI: what happens at a crime scene?
The CSI Effect: Fact v Fiction (infographic, rebloggable tumblr post)
Round up of articles breaking down issues with forensics and some of the pseudoscience behind it
Basics of forensic entomology (use of insect life-cycles and behaviours to interpret evidence)
Stages of Deterioration and Decomposition in the Human Body a timeline
Forensic Entomology a website designed to teach police officers and homicide investigators "the minimal skills they will need to interact profitably with a forensic entomologist."(wayback machine link)
How to write characters working in forensics (a list of jobs and tips, wayback machine link)
other related things:
Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors - fictional, but written as if by an actual experienced assassin, as a how-to manual on contract killing that ended up being used in numerous actual murders (now in public domain, archive.org link)
How to Write Investigation Guides as compiled for the Superbat Big Bang- Part One, A Guide to Doing The Casefic And Maybe Only Suffering a Little, and part two, Doing The Casefic And Suffering A Bit More Than Before (gdocs)
(a few historical police/criminal links on the history etc post)
some sites to check for more info:
How to Fight Right - not easy to navigate, posts range in usefulness. (but here's one masterlist in response to an ask)
True Forensics
Box of Truth a website devoted to firearms as well as testing the penetration of various rounds
FirearmsID a website with tons of general articles on firearms forensics and if you register (easy to do, does not spam) you can delve even deeper into the site with things like its virtual comparison microscope and more.
500 different Military Manuals these run the gauntlet from 1930s radio operation to Vietnam Guerilla Warfare & Special Forces Operations to Canadian Nuclear Weapons effects to 1990 US Journalism handbooks, vehicle maintenance, counter intelligence and much, much more.
Ask a Coroner (what it says on the tin, numerous previous asks posted with their answers for your perusal)
{There are also tons of resources at archive.org so googling something + "site:archive.org" might bring up useful manuals, etc}
Research and Resource Collected Links Masterpost